Last Friday, Carone Petroleum was way more than a day late and a dollar short. By then, the small, Carpinteria-based oil company was four years late on the $350,000 it owes the State of California for leasing rights in state waters off the coast of Carpinteria. Even by the time the State Lands Commission met in San Diego to determine the company’s fate, Carone had failed to raise the necessary funds. Company employees and managers had passed the hat and managed to scrape together $172,000. Carone attorney Bruce Cowen pledged he would make up the difference.
But it was too late.
State Lands commissioners wondered how a company with 51 workers — many of whom showed up to beg for their jobs — and two offshore oil platforms in federal waters couldn’t pay its rent for four years. They also wondered whether such a company could be trusted to operate safely in state waters. While expressing regret for the jobs lost, the commissioners unanimously voted “no” on renewing Carone’s lease.